Card holder



Nov. 20, 1956 'H. H. LUTz ETAL CARD HOLDER Filed Feb. 9, 1952 2,770,898Patented Nov. 20, 1956 CARD HOLDER Harry Henrik Lutz, Bronx, and WilliamGreenberger, New York, N. Y., assignors to The Hopp Press Incorporated,New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 9, 1952,Serial No. 270,814

1 Claim. (Cl. 40-10) This invention relates to a structurally andfunctionally improved card holder primarily intended for the display ofprice indicia.

It is a primary object to furnish a holder which may readily beassociated with shelves or other supporting surfaces adjacent whichmerchandise is disposed and by means of which a customer will be awareof the price or other information with respect to that merchandise; thepresent unit serving to maintain this information against unauthorizedremoval or rearrangement of the indicia.

A further object is that of providing a card holder in which the clerksor other store personnel may readily dismount the parts and reassemblethe indicia to provide precisely the desired information with regards toprice or otherwise; units constructed in accordance With the presentteachings, being preferably of a nature such that they will providespace adequate for the housing of all cards which are necessary tofurnish the required data.

Another object of this invention is that of designing a unit of thistype which will include relatively few parts each individually simpleand rugged in construction; such parts being capable of economicalproduction and having a long eifective life.

With these and other objects in mind, reference is had to the attachedsheet of drawings illustrating practical embodiments of the inventionand in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of one form of card holder;

Fig. 2 is a face view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View taken along the line 3 3 .and inthe direction of the arrows asindicated in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 4 4 and inthe direction of the arrows as also indicated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but in enlarged scale and showing theparts of the holder in process of disassembly;

Fig. 6 is a face View of a second form of holder constructed inaccordance with the present teachings;

Figs. 7 and 8 are sectional views taken along the lines 7 7 and 8 8respectively as well as in the direction of the arrows as indicated inFig. 6; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the holder parts as shown in Figs. 6 to8 but illustrating the same in disassembled positions.

A holder embodying the present invention is primarily intended todisplay the price of merchandise. As such, it may include a window ordisplay aperture of an area adequate to frame two or three cards. Itwill be apparent, however, that a greater number of cards or only asingle card may be so displayed. Likewise, information other than merelyprice can be revealed.

Ordinarily, the holder will be mounted upon a supporting surface such asexist adjacent the edge of a shelf. To that end, a bracket portion 10may be ailixed to the assembly and include spaced arms convenientlyoverlying and underlying the shelf faces. As shown in Fig. 4, one

of these arms may support a clamping bolt 11 or as in Fig. 8, a screw12. In substitution of such securing means or auxiliary thereto, one ofthe bracket arms may simply be formed with an opening 13 as in Fig. 1through which a suitable securing unit such as a nail (not shown) may bedriven. Various other methods of securing the assembly againstaccidental or unauthorized detachment may be resorted to; such structurebeing within the skill of any mechanic installing the holder inaccordance with the wishes of the store manager.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the card holder includes a.

rear plate 14 having its upper and lower edges defined by laterally andinwardly extending flanges 15. Within the space thus defined, the holdermay support a plurality of cards 16. The faces of the latter will beexposed between the opposed edges of the different flanges. Within thebody of the holder, adequate space will preferably exist to receive andretain an entire assembly of cards such a-s will provide all necessarypermutations for price indicia or other necessary information.

The holder is disposed within a receiver including a rear wall 17suitably secured to the bracket portion 10. This rear wall has extendingforwardly from it a bottom ilange 18 and side flanges 19. The latterterminate in an inwardly extending part providing a front face 20, lyinggenerally parallel to the rear Wall 17. Within the area of the frontface, an aperture 20 is provided which defines a window or framingportion adequate for the display of the exposed face of the card orcards 16 mounted by the holder. At this time, it will be observed thatno flange is provided between the upper edge of rear Wall 17 and thefront face 20. The intervening space has a Width adequate to accommodatethe card receiver. Therefore, the latter may be disposed within thepocket which is in fact provided between the rear wall 17 and front face20; the height and length of the holder being preferably such that itwill completely till that pocket.

A latch structure normally preventing movements between the outer member:and holder is furnished in the grouping yof Figs. l to 5 by having theadjacent surface of the inner and outer member formed with or mounting adetent structure. Conveniently, that structure may take the form 'of arecess 21 formed in the rear face of plate 14 and a protuberance 22formed in the forward face of plate 17. The area of the recess 21 issuch that it will accommodate the projection 22. So accommodated, theparts will lie in face-to-face Contact with each other. The lower flange18 is formed with an opening 23 through which access may be had to thelower ange of the card holder.

1n use it wil-l be appreciated that t-'he stack of cards 16 may readilybe arranged to display the desired information between the flanges 15with the unused cards stored to the rear yof the exposed cards. Theentire holder assembly may be made of plastic, metal or in any othersuitable material. That material, however, should embody at least alimited degree of flexibility insofar as the rear wall or plate 14 lisconcerned. Regardless of this, however, it will be Iappreciated thatwith the holder disposed in the pocket of the outer encasing orreceiving member, the cards may not be longitudinal-ly displaced fromthe holder. Also, so disposed, the detent structure will be operative.Therefore, unauthorized or accidental movements o-f the holder fromwithin the carrier may not occur. However, should an authorized persondesire to rearrange the display indicia, this may readily be achieved bysimply inserting a suitable implement 24 through opening 23 and causingit to press against the outer face of lower ilange 15. Such pressurewill cause thrust to be transmitted along rear Wall 14 and due to thecamming action between the parts, that wall will flex to an extent suchthat 'the detent structure will become inoperative. This has been shownin Fig. 5. With the partsso formed it is obvious that a continuousthrust on the holder will result in the latter moving clear of the outerencasing member. Thus, the holder and its contained cards 16 will beexposed for removal and rearrangement of'theoards after which the holdermaybe again, positioned in the pocket.

In thestructnre shown in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive, the pocket or outerencasing member conveniently includes a rear plate orl wall 25 from theside and bottom edges of which flanges 26 extend laterally and inwardly.The holder includes a forward plate 27 formed with a Sight aperture orwindow 28. This plate is provided with rearwardly and inwardly extendingflanges 29 adjacent its upper and lower edges. These receive betweenthem the cards 16. The detent or latch structure is furnished hysecuring to the inner face of the rear wall 25 a spring tongue `30; Thefree edge of the latter terminates a distance above the inner face oflower ange 26 in excess of the height of lower flange 29.

Therefore, in common with plate 14, after the carrier plate 27 mountscards, the faces of which are exposed through the Window 2S, the carriermay be inserted into the poel-:et of the outer 'or encasing member. lnthe latter form of the invention, this will include the plate 25 and itsflange portions 26. So inserted,the cards retained by the holder will beprecluded from displacement by the side anges 26.

With the holder fully in position, the spring tongue 30 will overridethe upper edge of lower flange 29. Therefore, it will latch over andabut its edge to prevent a withdrawal of the holder 27 from the mountingmember 25. With the ends of plate 27 overlapped by the side flanges 26,the retained cards will, of course, not be removable from the assembly.In common with the first described structure, the depth of the channelsprovided by flanges 29 may be such that an entire card set may be storedand retained therein.

Under these circumstances, it is apparent that a child or yanyunauthorized person will not be in a position to either shift the cardsor to remove them. Also, similar to the construction of Figs. l to Sinclusive, it will not be readily apparent as to how the parts of theassembly may be separated. However, an authorized person havingknowledge of the unit will be able to readily disassemble the parts sothat the cards may be shifted as desired. This will be achieved bysimply exerting pressure through the window 2S against the face of theoutermost card. The cards being flexible, it follows that the pressurewill be transmitted to tongue 30, This will result in the latter ibeingV shifted rearwardly. In such position, it will clear theupstanding edge of lower flange 29. Thereupon, the cardholder orretainingportion may be withdrawn.

Thus among others, the several objects of the invention as specificallyaforenoted, are achieved. Obviously, various changes in structure andrearrangements of the parts may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as defined by the claim.

We claim:

`In a device for mounting and displaying cards haveinteritting members,thecombination of a card holder member comprising .a rear wall, anapertured front wall, a top wall and Ia bottom wall joining saidfrontand rear walls to define a passageway open at the ends to theinterior of said card holder, said top and bottom walls beingsubstantially parallel to each other and substantially coterminous withsaid front and rear walls; an encasing member for receiving said cardholder comprising a rear wall, an apertured front wall, providing anopening substantially complementary to the 'opening of said card holder,a bottom wall joining said front and rear walls substantiallycoterminous therewith and a top opening formed in said encasing memberby said rear, front, end and bottom Walls to receive said card holderentirely within said encasing member, a protuberance and recessinterengagement between said card holder and said'encasing member at the`rear wall thereof and an access passage through thebottom wall of saidencasing member permitting contact from the exterior with the bottomwall of said card holder whereby in the intertting position of said cardholder and encasing member the height and width of the holder place theupper wall `of the holder within the encasing member and obstructing thetop opening of said encasing member while the end walls of said encasingmember obstruct the side openings of the card holder whereby thesolemeans of removal of said card holder from said encasing member isthrough said top opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,502,137 DeForeest Iuly 22, 1924 1,662,813 Cobb Mar. 20, 1928 1,680,998Krantz Aug. 14, 1928 1,754,851 Dey Apr. 15, 1930 1,797,114 Adamsv Mar.17, 1931 1,826,671 Ohnstrand Oct. 6, 1931 1,979,005 Montanye Oct. 30,1934 2,027,086 Brookey Jan. 7, 1936 2,320,463 Pavlovic June 1, 1943

